2August 15, 2001: Welcome dear old friend from afar |
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| Cotton rose flower in my garden started to bloom at last. Also Begonia holds scarlet flowers as if it compete against the heat of hot summer. Today is a Bon Holiday and at the same time, the 56th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War. Mrs. Kohama, one of my close friends of Group of Friends, came back to Oita from Tokyo for the ceremonial service of "Hatsu-Bon", or the first anniversary of her mother's death. She is a member of COARA as well. | |
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Today, we have decided to enjoy her free time with her old friend Miss Akiko Gotoh. First of all, we visited Mr. Mori who is working hard in his Futon shop in order to get information on good restaurant that serves Oita's famous "Tori-ten", boiled rice with chicken Tempura on the top. |
| He recommended us a good restaurant. Miss Gotoh searches for the web site of the restaurant to check whether it is open today. |  |
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Mr. Mori is too busy to join us. This is Maruyama restaurant he suggested. |
| Kohama said she sometimes cooks Tori-ten dish I published on my web site's Food page. How do you rate the taste of original Tori-ten? "Well, it is acceptable", she said and continued that she would again make it according to my recipe. I was relieved. |
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Mr. Kohama is busy to check E-mails even in his long summer vacation.
Original Tori-ten restaurant:Restaurant Maruyama: 1-6-15 Kentoku-machi Oita City, phone 537-5538 |
| We said good bye to Mr. Kohama and headed to my home. We enjoyed a pleasant chatting over the aroma of coffee my husband prepared for us. |  |
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| Summer daytime lasts long. We then headed to Kujyu Highland to see real Oita-like landscape. Kujyu mountain range welcomed us with its beautiful thick green slopes. | |
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We dropped at Ms. Yamada's log house without reservation. |
| Despite our sudden visit, the Yamadas welcomed us. We are delighted. |  |
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Mr. Yamada enjoys ceramic art. |
| Kohama was very impressed with the log house and signs her name on the guest book. |  |
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| We again drove up to a point of interest from which we could see a grand view of Volcano Aso in the far distance. The cool breeze refreshed us. | |
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The top of Mt. Kujyu soon covered with cloud. |
| We got back to my home and soon cooked beautiful vegetables the Yamadas presented us. |  |
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My husband prepared in advance Chinese soup he had learned in his "Cooking Class for Men". Just picked up cucumbers and tomatoes were very tasty. |
| Kohama and Gotoh are my good friends. We have enjoyed chatting late into the night.
"Good friends from afar makes me happy." Yes, it is true indeed. |
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